We read in Luke 18:36-44 about a blind beggar that was sitting by the edge of the road. When he heard a commotion, he asked what was going on. Those around him told him that Jesus was passing by. He started yelling “Jesus! Son of David! Have mercy on me!” This embarrassed the people around him. They tried to get him to be quiet but he only yelled louder. Jesus healed the man. He began praising God…and everyone around him joined in praising too.

The blind man had such a desire to be healed that he was not going to let anyone talk him out of it. What if he had listened to them and stopped crying out to Jesus? He would not have gotten Jesus’ attention and he would have remained blind. He would have missed out on God’s best because he let others talk him out of pushing for it.

Not this guy! He was not going to listen to anyone. He didn’t care what those around him thought or said. He was only focused on Jesus and on getting his attention. And it paid off for him big time.

Are you letting others talk you out of what God has planned for you?

Other people do not know what God has placed in your heart. They do not see the dream like you do. That is between you and Him. Like the blind man we must tune out those that try to hush us up and squelch our dreams. Focus on Jesus only. Tune out everything else.

Are you listening to the doubts and fears that come? Let me tell you something…doubt is a thief. It will steal all your dreams and keep you from your potential. Doubt is a lie from Satan to steal your dream. Kick it to the curb and move on. Replace the doubt with the promises in Gods word about you and about your dream. Use the Word as a filter for all the junk that tries to distract you from pursuing your dream. If it doesn’t line up with what the Word says, get rid of it.

After the blind man was healed, everyone around him started praising God. These were the very same people who tried to discourage him and get him to be quiet. After they saw the miracle…after they saw his dream come true, they rejoiced with him. More importantly, they worshipped God.

One day, the very people who do not believe in your dream and try to discourage you and tell you all the reasons it cannot happen, will rejoice with you. Better still, they will come to better know your Savior because you did not listen to them and give up. When they see the miraculous work He does in your life they will not be able to deny it was God, right? Because they were the ones who thought there was no way it could happen…and if it were only you it would not have happened. Only God could have done this thing!

Maybe your dream is healing for your body, or maybe it is the salvation of a lost child, or a ministry you are called to start, or restoration of a relationship…whatever it is, don’t give up. Ignore those who are trying to shut you up. Keep crying out to Jesus. Focus on him. It will happen.

If you have been following the blog, you will notice that it looks a little different. I’ve been working behind the scenes to make it “prettier”. When I started blogging, I knew very little about what it entailed but I decided to jump in and learn as I went. And that is what I have been doing. Researching and learning and testing and learning and getting frustrated and learning. I’m pretty happy with the progress made. It was necessary and important but it has distracted me a bit from the whole purpose of the blog which is writing. The fanciest blog in cyberspace is pretty much worthless if there is are no posts on it, right?

So that got me thinking about how easy it is to get distracted in almost every area of life. Often the things we get distracted with are good things that need to be done. But if we spend too much time on them or make them our main focus, we get off course of our true goal. How many times have you logged on to your computer to check your email and before you know it you’ve spent an hour on Pinterest? There is no doubt that I needed to work behind the scenes on my blog set up. It was necessary work. However, it is also necessary that I continue to write blog posts and keep adding content so that when you come to the site there is something new for you to see. It is all about priorities and balance.

Similarly, it is very easy to get distracted in our relationship with God. Today’s busy lifestyles make it very difficult to carve out time to spend reading the Bible and praying. But nothing is more important. We need to feed our spirit daily so that we are equipped to walk out God’s plan for our lives. How do we stay focused in this age of busy busy busy?:

Here are 5 steps to staying focused

Determine your goals/priorities

It is impossible to know if you are on track to reach your goals if you have not first determined what your priorities and goals are. Spend some time evaluating the things that are most important to you. These are your priorities. From that list, set goals to get from where you are now to where you want to be. Dare to dream big. Scare yourself. Don’t limit God. He can do more than we can even imagine but we have to dream and believe. The things that you like and dream about are things that He put in your heart. Let Him help you make your dreams come true.

Proverbs 29:18 (KJV): Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

Plan

After you’ve set your goals, think about what steps need to be taken to make them happen. Even little steps move you toward your goal. But you must take steps no matter how small. Write them down and set deadlines for each step.

I’m in an awesome book club with a few of my cousins. It’s called The Goal Pact. We just finished reading a book called “The Compound Effect” by Darren Hardy. I highly recommend it if you feel like you’re stuck in a rut. The big take-away for me from this book is that the smallest actions done consistently over time will change the course of your life – for good or for bad. Are the things you’re doing moving to toward your goal or away from it? The choice is yours.

Isaiah 30:8 (KJV): Now go, write it before them in a table, and not it in a book, that they may be for the time to come for ever and ever.

Eliminate activities that are not aligned with your goals/priorities

Do your actions align with your priorities? If your relationship with God is a priority and spending time in the Word and prayer is a goal, do you get out of bed early to make it happen or do you hit the snooze button? When you are reading the Bible and praying are you in a quiet place or is the TV on in the background? If being healthy is a priority and losing weight is a goal, what are you eating? Are you making time to exercise? If your marriage is a priority and having a better relationship with your spouse is a goal, do you treat them with respect? Do you make time for one on one time with them?

I’m not going to lie, this part can be hard. You may have to make some hard choices and learn to say no. But the best way to reach our goals and our full potential is to focus on the things that are important to us and eliminate activities that are not aligned with our goals.

Proverbs 4:25-27 (NIV): Let your eyes look straight ahead: fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful though to the paths for your feed and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.

Connect with like-minded people to keep you accountable

It is so important to have support and encouragement. Not everyone will be excited about changes you are making in your life. Especially if they are one of the people you have to say no to in order to focus on your goals. Find others who have similar goals and dreams and connect with them. Look for people who are successful in the area of your goals and learn from them. Choose a mentor to follow.

Hebrews 10:25 (NIV): not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Don’t get discouraged

Let’s be real. You will get discouraged. This stuff is not easy. If it were, everyone would be crushing their goals every day and living a dream life. Look around you. That is not happening. There are so many unhappy people struggling through life. Don’t let that be you. The dreams you have were given to you for a purpose. There are people waiting for you to achieve your greatest dream. Satan will try to get you to give up by putting doubts in your mind, but do not let him win! You are stronger than you think. You can do it. Just keep moving toward the goal, step by step.

Philippians 1:4 (KJV) being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ

Until next time, let’s get those goals!

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